The invention relates generally to an earth-moving device in the form of a tractor drawn scraper having a bowl carrying a pivoted blade with an associated forwardly swingable apron making the device capable of full width scraping, transport, and full width striking of the discharged soil.
In some conventional types of scrapers the same blade is utilized for both scraping and loading of the soil and striking of the discharged soil. In many of these prior designs the blade is not fixed with respect to the bowl but moves rearwardly on a sliding floor section along a non-horizontal path, making it difficult to obtain a predetermined depth of spread during the spreading of a given load. Also, where sliding floor sections are employed, the floor sections, the guides in which they are mounted, and the associated actuators are all subject to heavy abuse in the field, especially when pulled over large boulders or abrasive materials. In still other scraper structures utilizing the same blade for both scraping and striking, and in which the blade is fixedly mounted with respect to the bowl structure, the dischrge opening ahead of the blade tends to be limited, making complete discharge of the contained soil difficult or impossible and sometimes requiring that scraping operations be discontinued until the earth loses some of its moisture, at considerable loss to the contractor.